just getting into the realm of "hi tech" planted tank
-got Marineland Plant light (w/ timer & rgb lights & moon light & shimmer effect, I love it)
-effectively handled what would have been an algae bloom due to imbalance of extra light & no co2 infusion or ferts (thank you Flourish Excel!)

I've got substrate tab ferts from aquariumplants.com on their way, waitin' on the UPS man...

I want to ease into co2 infusion; I've already got pressurized co2 on hand (beer brewing) but I'm not the kinda guy that's gonna remember to turn it on and off every morning and night... so I want to go low-dose co2 and leave it run 24/7.

but, of course, I'm afraid of gassing my fishies at night... so I want to really dial in the co2 infusion accurately... more accurately than the drop checkers' "blue/green/yellow" zones.

I've seen others refer to CO2 ppm values where typical surface agitation gets you 3-5ppm, and you want to be somewhere around 20 for plants and fish to be happy... but what is being used to get the ppm values??? I can't find anything anywhere!

I second that. Solenoid is the only way to go. If you had a power outage you would gas your fish. Shutting down the system saves gas & is the safer way to go. Dosage will be harder to regulate when left on even at a slow rate!

Solenoid and a plug it into thew light timer. CO2 is on when the light is on. Plants do not use CO2 except during the light cycle. There's no reason to add it 24/7 and fish do not enjoy it much since the plants do not produce O2 also at night.

If you use the CO2 gas, use it correctly from the start.
Otherwise use Excel or non CO2/enrichment methods.

Goggle co2 aquariums, you will find charts that tell you co2 ppm, depending on your ph and kh, but, also get a drop checker, once you establish the ppm you want, you know the color of your drop checker, and you can look at it for quick reference

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